^I think what they mean is that Troughton's Doctor set the pattern for the rest in a way Hartnell didn't. In the Hartnell era, the companions were more the lead characters and the Doctor was more of a mentor/advisor. But from Troughton onward, the Doctor was undeniably the star of the show and his companions were there to follow his lead.

*Pertwee - His own man really, if I had to choose, closer to Hartnel than Troughton as in the fact that Pertwee was a mentor and grandfatherly figure like Hartnel.
*Baker - A hint of Troughton, but more adventurous, and more crazy!
*Davison - A tiny bit of all of the first three doctors, but not Troughton in particular. Yet again, if I had to choose, a tiny bit more like Hartnel than Troughton. But yet again, he was his own man. Sensitive, young, handsome.
*C.Baker - More Hartnel than anything, although maybe a pinch or two of Troughton also. But again, almost his own man,
*McCoy - Yeah, okay, I'd say half and half of Troughton and T. Baker but with ore mystery.
*McGann - Fully his own man. If anything, in his later Audio stories he based himself more or less on the ninth doctor, which Is actually a future incarnation. Real fucked up, right. :P
*Ecclestion - Yet again his own man, maybe with hints of all eight previous doctors. he had a romantic side, so maybe a bit on the eight doctor. (funny how 8&9 seem to be based on each other. :P)
*Tennant - More Tom Baker than anything, maybe with hints of Troughton, but more T Baker. But still his own man to a degree.
*Smith - Almost a younger version of Troughton with bits of Tom Baker, William Hartnel, Sylvester McCoy and even Colin Baker thrown in. But more Troughton than anything, not really his own man at all. probably the first doctor to almost completely base himself on past doctors and only put a bit of his flavour on it.

I don't think its fair to say that Smith is basically a younger Troughton - the latter was relatively more caculated than Smith, who's certainly like a mad scientist. And as has been pinted out, Smith seeks approval while Troughton was content to go unnoticed.

I think that Troughton did set the precedent of the Time Traveller & Co. to the show. He was the lead that did the unusual, the unexpected that the companions around had no idea about. Doesn't mean the given interpretations weren't their own man - far from it. That the Tenth has elements of Four and Five is, in fact, a nice addition of nostalgia towards the character himself, and a real sense of personal history.

And to add, yes, I will miss Matt Smith. He's had the unenviable job off following after an immensly popular Doctor, and made the part truly his own. I wish he'd have stayed, but at the same time I look forward to the new Doctor - thats how it is with DW, after all.

^I think what they mean is that Troughton's Doctor set the pattern for the rest in a way Hartnell didn't. In the Hartnell era, the companions were more the lead characters and the Doctor was more of a mentor/advisor. But from Troughton onward, the Doctor was undeniably the star of the show and his companions were there to follow his lead.

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I don't think that's what they mean, they're talking about the character of the Doctor more than the format of the show. But, I agree with your assessment along those lines.

However one positive of this is that Smith IS leaving. Am I the only one who has become utterly fed up with Smith? I can't wait to see the back of him. His whole era has just been breaks in the middle of series, badly written series finale's, and underwhelming episodes in general. It's time to say good bye. At long last. And thank god.

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wow, you really are an idiot... Moffat will still be running the show and BBC will still be paying for it's production so expect the breaks and badly written episodes to continue long after Smith until The Moff is shown the door.

wow, you really are an idiot... Moffat will still be running the show and BBC will still be paying for it's production so expect the breaks and badly written episodes to continue long after Smith until The Moff is shown the door.

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According to a friend of mine who read the leaked e-mail about Doctor Who's future that forced the BBC to prematurely announce Matt's departure, the BBC plans no break in series 8. This is second-hand and I can't confirm its veracity, so take it with a grain of salt. I personally think the BBC would be making an enormous mistake to split series 8 between autumn 2014 and spring 2015. A great deal of momentum behind the series has been lost the last two years.

wow, you really are an idiot... Moffat will still be running the show and BBC will still be paying for it's production so expect the breaks and badly written episodes to continue long after Smith until The Moff is shown the door.

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According to a friend of mine who read the leaked e-mail about Doctor Who's future that forced the BBC to prematurely announce Matt's departure, the BBC plans no break in series 8. This is second-hand and I can't confirm its veracity, so take it with a grain of salt. I personally think the BBC would be making an enormous mistake to split series 8 between autumn 2014 and spring 2015. A great deal of momentum behind the series has been lost the last two years.

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I completely agree. I can't help but feel that we've been deprived of one Matt Smith season/series, and thats not really fair for him and his portrayal as the Doctor.

Can I ask, is there really an animosity between Smith and Moffat, as its been lead to be talked about, thus leaving earlier than he would've? I don't really buy into that, but since you know of the mail and stuff, I thought I'd ask you.

According to a friend of mine who read the leaked e-mail about Doctor Who's future that forced the BBC to prematurely announce Matt's departure, the BBC plans no break in series 8. This is second-hand and I can't confirm its veracity, so take it with a grain of salt. I personally think the BBC would be making an enormous mistake to split series 8 between autumn 2014 and spring 2015. A great deal of momentum behind the series has been lost the last two years.

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For the audience to properly take to Capaldi's Doctor he deserves at least a full, uninterrupted first series in order to silence the 'he's too old and unattractive to be the Doctor' brigade of the fan base (I use the term fan very loosely).

Can I ask, is there really an animosity between Smith and Moffat, as its been lead to be talked about, thus leaving earlier than he would've? I don't really buy into that, but since you know of the mail and stuff, I thought I'd ask you.

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There were some ridiculous rumors floating around GB not too long ago about a bust up but in the more recent interviews they have nothing but kind words for eachother.

However one positive of this is that Smith IS leaving. Am I the only one who has become utterly fed up with Smith?

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Not the only one but I suspect one of relatively few.

But that's OK. I think I was one of the few fans who was desperately eager to see David Tennant leave when he left.

It's true that, to some extent, Tennant has become the iconic Doctor of the new series the way that Tom Baker was on the old series. I wonder if that will continue to be the case as time goes on? (I also wonder how dominant Tennant really is once you control for the sex appeal factor?)

However one positive of this is that Smith IS leaving. Am I the only one who has become utterly fed up with Smith? I can't wait to see the back of him. His whole era has just been breaks in the middle of series, badly written series finale's, and underwhelming episodes in general. It's time to say good bye. At long last. And thank god.

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wow, you really are an idiot... Moffat will still be running the show and BBC will still be paying for it's production so expect the breaks and badly written episodes to continue long after Smith until The Moff is shown the door.

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Well once Smith is gone, at least we won't have a doctor who won't shut up about bow ties and hats, jumps around and shouts, talks at about 1000 miles and hour speed, and a lot of his personality based on a previous doctor, and after a few minutes drives me fucking insane.

Can I ask, is there really an animosity between Smith and Moffat, as its been lead to be talked about, thus leaving earlier than he would've? I don't really buy into that, but since you know of the mail and stuff, I thought I'd ask you.

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From all available evidence there's no animosity between the two. They were photographed together in New York in May after reports surfaced that they had had a falling out. And Moffat is nothing but complementary when speaking of Matt Smith, his work, and his dedication.

Matt Smith did three seasons, plus a little more. Moffat has said Smith stayed longer than he (Moffat) thought he would. I wouldn't be surprised if Moffat made an effort to convince Smith to stay; we know that Moffat discussed series 8 with him, there may have been other enticements offered (such as writing and/or directing an episode, which were rumored), and Smith countered with this "two Doctors" plan (though some think that it was never a serious offer) to stay. If Moffat drove Smith from the series, I don't see Smith pitching him an arc and format for series 8, I just don't.

Though, for all I know, we'll find out five years from now that Moffat and Smith despised each other, just as it's come out in the last few years how badly Eccleston got on with RTD and Phil Collinson.

The thing to watch for, I guess, is how active Matt Smith is in promoting "The Day of the Doctor" and the Christmas Special.

Though, for all I know, we'll find out five years from now that Moffat and Smith despised each other, just as it's come out in the last few years how badly Eccleston got on with RTD and Phil Collinson.

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Wow. I didn't know Eccleston had a prob with RTD, of all people. At the risk of sounding like a gossip-y girl... can you tell more?

The thing to watch for, I guess, is how active Matt Smith is in promoting "The Day of the Doctor" and the Christmas Special.

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As far as I'm concerned, far more than the BBC is. He doesn't SPOIL anything, true, but he's at least about it at length and relates his good experiences about it.

However one positive of this is that Smith IS leaving. Am I the only one who has become utterly fed up with Smith? I can't wait to see the back of him. His whole era has just been breaks in the middle of series, badly written series finale's, and underwhelming episodes in general. It's time to say good bye. At long last. And thank god.

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wow, you really are an idiot... Moffat will still be running the show and BBC will still be paying for it's production so expect the breaks and badly written episodes to continue long after Smith until The Moff is shown the door.

Click to expand...

Well once Smith is gone, at least we won't have a doctor who won't shut up about bow ties and hats, jumps around and shouts, talks at about 1000 miles and hour speed, and a lot of his personality based on a previous doctor, and after a few minutes drives me fucking insane.

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Funny, aside from the bow ties and hats, you just described The Tenth Doctor at his most annoying (and I say this as a fan of The Tenth Doctor in general, but he's not amongst my most favorites).

However one positive of this is that Smith IS leaving. Am I the only one who has become utterly fed up with Smith? I can't wait to see the back of him. His whole era has just been breaks in the middle of series, badly written series finale's, and underwhelming episodes in general. It's time to say good bye. At long last. And thank god.

Click to expand...

wow, you really are an idiot... Moffat will still be running the show and BBC will still be paying for it's production so expect the breaks and badly written episodes to continue long after Smith until The Moff is shown the door.

Click to expand...

Well once Smith is gone, at least we won't have a doctor who won't shut up about bow ties and hats, jumps around and shouts, talks at about 1000 miles and hour speed, and a lot of his personality based on a previous doctor, and after a few minutes drives me fucking insane.

Wow. I didn't know Eccleston had a prob with RTD, of all people. At the risk of sounding like a gossip-y girl... can you tell more?

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They had a falling out. Doctor Who was not the working experience with RTD that he expected. He thought it would be more of a collaborative process like The Second Coming. It wasn't. The two men no longer speak.

Wow. I didn't know Eccleston had a prob with RTD, of all people. At the risk of sounding like a gossip-y girl... can you tell more?

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If I'm remembering this correctly didn't Eccleston have issues with certain directors and the working conditions for the cast and crew in Series 1 and when raising these issues with RTD and Collinson they did nothing to support him?